


Just the way you are

by obisgirl



Category: Alphas
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-22
Updated: 2011-09-22
Packaged: 2017-11-08 18:45:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/446315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obisgirl/pseuds/obisgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>  Rachel attempts to tell Gary how she feels about him.  </p>
            </blockquote>





	Just the way you are

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my boyfriend, who gave me the idea for this Rachel/Gary 'shipper happy fanfic.  
> Spoilers: Season 1, episode 8 “A Short Time in Paradise.”  
> Disclaimer: Alphas characters come from creative geniuses Zak Penn and Michael Karnow.  
> Note: Beta'd by zelda_zee

It had been mostly an uneventful day; Rachel spent it filing folders and cleaning her office. Nina was giving herself another manicure, and she could hear Cameron bouncing his son's baseball in perfect rhythm against his wall.

Doctor Rosen was typing up the latest case files and listening to his radio. Bill spent most of his time chatting with Gary in his office (well, mostly listening to Gary give commentary about the ballgame that was going on downtown because he could pull up the radio feed from it).

Rachel liked listening to Gary.  He could be overly talkative which was awkward sometimes but he was always helpful and sweet. If it hadn't been for him saying that her Papa had a serious cough, she would have never known that he had cancer. He pushed and pushed her to get him help because he cared about her and it was the right thing to do.

Her parents didn't understand her alpha power.  They saw it as a disability Rachel resisted the constant pressure from her mother to match her with someone who would love her for herself, because she thought no one could accept her the way she was.  Her first kiss had been a disaster, with all her senses overwhelming her; she forced her poor date to leave. 

But after her Papa finally went to the doctor and returned for follow-up appointment, she was finally accepted by her family, no longer seen as a burden.  Her aunties and her Papa especially saw her ability as a gift, and he even called her his own precious miracle.   That night when Rachel went home, she cried in her room for hours, the happiest she had been in a long time. 

She finally had what she had wanted all these years; acceptance from her family and the love she deeply longed for from them.  But there was a new growing feeling she hadn't expected: love for one of her co-workers. 

Gary Bell. 

It had taken Rachel three weeks to finally work up enough courage to ask him to dinner.  It wasn't that she was afraid he would reject her; rather she was worried how he would react to her confession.  When Bill finally went back to his office, Rachel made her move. 

“Hey Gary,” she said, knocking on his door, smiling brightly. 

“Hi Rachel,” he greeted, flicking through various radio channels. 

Sometimes she wished she could see what he saw.  She could only imagine the radio waves, bright colors and different frequencies; she didn't know how he kept track of all of them.

“Gary,” she continued and he stopped, looking at her.  She was thankful for his full attention.  “I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me to dinner. There's a nice deli not far from the office.”

“My mom usually makes me dinner,” he said.

She shrugged, feeling foolish.  “Of course, maybe another time then,” she said, backing away.

“Wait,” he called back and Rachel could have sworn her heart skipped a beat. “I can call her and say I have dinner plans with a friend.” 

~~

Gary asked how her day was as they walked to the deli. She had been bored for the most part; Gary was exhausted from acting as sports commentator for Bill. 

“He really needs a small TV in his office if Doctor Rosen will allow it,” Gary added as they sat down.  A waitress came by for their order.  Gary ordered a turkey sandwich and she got a chicken salad. “This place is nice. Thank you for inviting me Rachel,” he said, smiling. 

“I'm glad you could come,” she said, “Actually, I invited you here because there's something I want to tell you. It's very important,”

“Oh, how is your dad? Is he doing better?” he ventured.

Rachel sighed. “He attends his follow-up appointments and gives me regular updates. His doctor says he's doing well and they're glad he came to see them when he did,”

“That's good, that's good.  I'm glad your dad's doing better,”

“Me too,” she said. “Gary, I wanted to tell you that --”

Before she could finish, the waitress came back with their orders.  Gary thanked the waitress. Rachel couldn't pay attention to her salad.  She needed to say this; she'd practiced what she wanted to say to him for three weeks.

“Gary,” Rachel started.

“You're not eating your salad,” he pointed out. “Is something wrong with it?”

“Nothing's wrong with my salad,” she said, “I need you to be quiet for a moment because I really need to say this to you,”

He stared blankly at her, almost curiously.  “But you'll eat your salad later?” he asked.

She nodded. 

“I'll eat my turkey sandwich later,” he offered, giving her his full attention.

Rachel sighed thankfully.  “Gary, you're a dear friend to me and I care about you. A lot,”

“I care about you too Rachel,”

“No, I mean --- you understand me and you care when I'm hurt, like the way I was feeling down a few weeks ago because my papa had throat cancer and I was too scared to say anything, but you pushed me to speak up and force him to get help. He sees the doctor regularly now because of what you inspired me to do: speak up for myself, something I could barely do before,”

Gary smiled.

“You make me smile and laugh and I felt something in my heart, when I realized...”

Gary picked up a napkin suddenly; reaching over to wipe away the tears which she hadn't even realized started falling.  “It'll smear your make-up,” he said.

She wanted to kiss him right there but was aware he was sensitive to touch and she didn't want to scare him off, even though he was being the sweetest. 

“You don't need to cry Rachel. Why are you sad?” he said, sitting back down.

“No, I'm not sad; I'm happy,” she said, “I'm happy because of the way you make me feel, Gary,”

He didn't say anything. 

“Gary, I love you,” she said finally, laughing to herself.  “You don't know how long I'd been holding that in,”

Rachel didn't know if he processed what she said. She thought maybe she should have waited until after he finished his dinner. Now, he seemed so distant and maybe confused.  Love confessions were often bad ideas, especially if the feeling was not reciprocated.  She had no idea how he felt.  He could like her as a friend and nothing else.  Suddenly, Rachel began to wonder if she had made a mistake. 

“You can finish your turkey sandwich now,” she managed.

Gary smiled at her as she started working on her salad. 

~~

Dinner, Rachel felt, lasted forever.  She paid for both of them and met Gary outside the deli. She didn't know what else to say to him; thankfully, Gary spoke first. 

“What if I kissed you?” he offered. 

Rachel pushed back a loose strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly feeling shy.  She had been kissed before and the result had been a disaster.  She had been so nervous that time. Tonight, the only thing she had been nervous about was telling Gary how she felt.

“Kiss me?”

“Yeah,” he continued, “That's how two people show affection,”

She didn’t know what to say.

“But you have to turn off your senses,” he said.  “I've heard Nina say you experience sensory overload and I don't want you to pass out because you can't control it,”

Now Rachel felt really embarrassed.  Gary leaned towards her, kissing her lightly.  She could smell the turkey from his sandwich mixed with the chicken from her salad and started to pull away.

“Your breath smells like peaches,” he said suddenly and she laughed.

She had peaches for her snack earlier that day. Rachel laughed so hard she started crying and Gary pulled away suddenly. “Are you sad again?”

“No,” she promised. 

Gary kissed her again, and this time Rachel didn't let her senses take over and simply enjoyed the moment. 

~~

They took a taxi to Gary's house, Rachel holding his hand the whole time. She didn't want to let him go.  He was so special to her, even as they got closer to his house, Rachel dreaded saying goodbye.  Gary squeezed her hand and kissed her temple before they exited the taxi and she paid their fare. 

They walked quietly up to his front porch.  The house lights weren't on but it was past his 9:30 pm curfew.  Rachel kissed him again wrapping her arms around him, hearing his heart beat in time with hers and feel his hands around her back.

It was nice. 

Suddenly, the house lights came on and they turned, expecting to find Gary's mom, but were taken aback when Dr. Rosen came out.

“Doctor Rosen?!” Rachel cried.  Gary likewise didn't know what to say.

“Um, Sandra was worried and called me. So I came over to make sure everything was...” he started then stopped, observing their body language.   “Did something happen between---?”

Before Rachel could answer, Sandra came outside wearing a nightgown.  She exchanged looks with Doctor Rosen before staring blankly at Rachel and her son.  “Gary, who is this?”

“Mom, what is Doctor Rosen doing here? Didn't you get my voicemail that I was going to dinner with Rachel?” he countered.

“I did, but I thought you would still keep your curfew,” she said.

“I told Sandra that there was nothing to worry about but she…she wasn’t comfortable with the situation and asked me to stay until you got--” Rosen explained.

“Lee,” she interrupted, “Gary, who is this girl?”

“This is Rachel. She's a very nice girl. She asked me to dinner, I kissed her and she's my girlfriend now.  She's a very nice girl. She loves me and I love her,”

Rachel didn't know what to say.  “You do?” she asked. 

“Yes, I love her because she makes me feel special,” he said, eliciting a relaxed smile from her that wasn't lost upon Rosen.  “Doctor Rosen, you don't have to be here anymore because I'm home now. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight,”

Doctor Rosen looked at Rachel then Sandra.  “I'll talk to you later,” he promised. “Bye Rachel, Gary,”

“Goodbye Doctor Rosen,” Rachel said, still stunned by Gary’s admission.

“Gary, I'm not sure I like this,” Sandra protested.  “I barely know her,”

“Rachel's nice, Mom.  She's like me; she’s good for me and you need to be nice to her because she's my girlfriend and I love her,” he said, “If you don't mind, I want to say goodnight to my girlfriend –alone.”

Sandra looked at Rachel again, sighed and went back inside. 

Rachel still didn't know what to say.  Everything about the evening had been confusing.  She thought her love confession was a disaster until he kissed her afterward dinner, and now, he’d stated in front of his mother that he loved her.

She felt like crying again.

“Don't worry about my mom. I'll talk to her. She'll like you, I promise,” he said. 

“You love me,” she cried.

“I do,” Gary continued, “You're sweet Rachel, and beautiful, and I know it was difficult for you to say what you did earlier,”

“Is that why you didn't say anything during dinner?”

Gary sighed, taking her hand again and massaging it slightly.  “You surprised me, but in a good way. You're perfect the way you are. You have some flaws, but nobody is perfect -- otherwise the world would be a boring place. I love you just the way you are.”

“I love you too Gary,” Rachel said, smiling. 

“Don't cry again,” he said. “It’ll smear your make-up,”

Gary gently touched her cheek and Rachel stared lovingly at him before closing her eyes and kissing him again.  No senses overwhelmed her, only the feeling of her lips on his.

The End   
 


End file.
